Sunday, 16 February 2014

BAEJARINS BETZU PLYSUR - the best hotdogs in Iceland

Apparently this rather unusual place is
supposed to be a must visit eatery in Reykjavik so of course we had to find it
and try their fare.

Bæjarins beztu pylsur in English means ‘
The best hot dog in town’ and in Iceland is now known as “Bæjarins beztu”.

According to their website it is 27592 days
since the first hotdog was served at Bæjarins beztu and presumably they update
this daily. According to my calculations that means they have been serving hotdogs
there for 76 years which seems amazing. In fact it opened in 1937 so indeed a
good long time before we in the UK had ever heard of hotdogs I would hazard a
bet.

In August 2006, ‘The Guardian’ put Bæjarins
beztu as the best hot dog stand in Europe. They claim to be the best in Iceland
but I am not sure that there is a lot of competition as they own all the hotdog
stands in the city of Reykjavik anyway I think . If you manage to miss them in
the city then they do also have one in Keflavik Airport too.

It is said that most Icelandic people have
eaten at Bæjarins beztu. The one we went to was in a car park near the harbour
and was certainly not really a place w would have eaten at had we not been told
it was a place to check out in Reykjavik . It was rather insalubrious and yet
in the queue there were men in suits and well dressed folk as well as some
sitting in cars enjoying their purchased dogs. It looks like a basic caravan or
hut type hot dog stand with red and white logo.

Icelanders are rather proud of their hotdog
and stand and foreign tourists are brought here to sample the wonderful hot
dogs, which some refer to as “the Icelandic national food.” It isn’t just your
average visitor who eats here as the stand proudly shows on their board that
President Clinton, when president of the United States was brought here and
apparently James Hetfield from Metallica has also eaten a hot dog from here.

WHAT MAKES THEIR DOGS SO SPECIAL?

Well it looked pretty much like any other
hotdog if I am honest but it was pretty tasty. It is a good meaty sausage and I
was told that they not only have beef and pork but also lamb meat in their
sausages so that is an essential difference. The sausages are also supposed to be cooked in
beer to add to the flavour. The bread roll is a white roll that is soft and
quite light and shaped as any other hotdog roll is.

Their sauces and extras that are
specialities include a ketchup which if Icelandic is a bit sweeter and used to
have apple sauce in it but now is more like
the usual US style one we know.Then they add
mustard is the IcelandicPylsusinnep or “hot dog mustard” which is brown and not too hot or strong or it may be
the sweet yellow hot dog mustard. They
also must have both crispy fried onion and
raw onion and finally the remolaði, which is a mayonnaise-based sauce with
sweet relish. If you want their specialty then you can either just point or ask
in English as everyone speaks perfect English , for a hotdog with “the works,” or if you are feeling brave try
the Icelandic which is “eina með öllu”.

WHERE CAN I ENJOY MY HOTDOG?

Can I sit and relax with a lovely view over
the harbour? Well no. You either sit at the rather grubby looking wooden picnic
style table or stand and eat you hotdog trying not to squirt any of the juicy
contents over yourself while so doing.The table is grubby and covered with evidence of visiting birds and
there is no way I would have put my hotdog in the wooden stand on the
table!So you sort of stand around in
the car park with other ‘diners’ enjoying your hotdog or you could walk a bit
further away towards the harbour. As it was negative temperatures when we were
there we didn’t walk away as our hotdog would have got cold before we had a
chance to eat it.

IF YOU CAN’T GET TO REYKJAVIK THEN TRY THIS

I found this recipe in Huffington post in
an article by Victoria Haschka and thought it would be interesting to try:

6 hot dog
buns
6 pylsur sausages -(you can order themhttp://nammi.is/ss-hot-dogs-500-gr-p-390.html)
4 tablespoons of Icelandic hot dog mustard
-http://nammi.is/hot-dog-mustard-200-gr-p-407.html)
4 tablespoons of ketchup
4 tablespoons of remoulade
6 tablespoons of crispy deep fried onion
6 tablespoons of diced mild onions
beer to cook the sausages in -Icelandic Viking or Gull are both Icelandic
beers, but I am sure any lager will do
the job.Cook the sausages in the beer . While
they are heating split and toast the bread rolls. Fill the rolls in this order,
raw onion and one sausage then add a squirt of mustard, remoulade and ketchup along each
sausage and finally top then with the lovely crispy fried onions.

The sausages
are certainly worth sourcing as they were much more tasty and meaty than the
ones we have and a lot firmer too. The other parts you can easily re create so
have a try.

In Reykjavik
we paid about £2 for our hotdogs so not too bad for a unique experience. If you
are heading for Reykjavik then if you are not a vegetarian do take a stroll
down towards the harbour and join the queue for one of Iceland’s specialties.